A grim update to this story from AP:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – The bodies of two U.S. soldiers reported captured last week have been recovered, and an Iraqi official said Tuesday the men were “killed in a barbaric way.” Al-Qaida in
Iraq claimed responsibility for killing the soldiers, and said the successor to slain terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had “slaughtered” them, according to a Web statement that could not be authenticated.The language in the statement suggested the men had been beheaded.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell confirmed that the remains, found late Monday by American troops, were believed to be those of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore….
The director of the Iraqi defense military’s operation room, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed, said the bodies showed signs of having been tortured. “With great regret, they were killed in a barbaric way,” he said.